Testimonials

“Sacred Groves found me when I was craving community and did not know I was lonely. It’s inhabitants taught me compassion, kindness, and respect when I did not know I had been treated badly. Two wise witches in the woods, along with the sisters and brothers who gathered to grow in relationship, helped me understand the power of connection. Connection with each other. Connection with myself. Connection with a vast and loving universe.” Kathryn L.

Therese & Tere, I have been deeply touched and moved by being with you at Sacred Groves. I sense that you are two very incredible women. I feel an integrity and authenticity that I have only felt a few times in my life. I have rarely felt so accepted, nurtured, seen and heard.It reminds me of a poem I’d like to share:

When someone deeply listens to you
it is like holding out a dented cup
you’ve had since childhood
and watching it fill up with
cold, fresh water.
When it balances on top of the brim,
you are understood.
When it overflows and touches your skin,
you are loved.

When someone deeply listens to you,
the room where you stay
starts a new life
and the place where you wrote
your first poem
begins to glow in your mind’s eye.
It is as if gold has been discovered!

When someone deeply listens to you,
your bare feet are on the earth
and a beloved land that seemed distant
is now at home within you.

— John Fox

Again, please accept my gratitude for such an amazing commitment that you have made to love. Know that I see you and hear you, that I accept you just as you are, and that I pray that I might offer you and Sacred Groves some nurturing.
–Connie P. 2012
*****

After a Personal Retreat at the Groves
“I’ve always been a sociable friendly, extroverted individual, so when I started getting repeated promptings to pursue a “walk within” (or solo retreat), I wasn’t sure about just how to find the right spot in which to sequester myself. Armed with the internet, a short list of requirements, and faith that I would find that which I sought, it wasn’t long before Sacred Groves became the obvious answer. They had an ideal-looking yurt available on the dates I was interested in. The costs were reasonable, the site was beautiful and acessible…while still seeming remote. Everything got organized and arranged so effortlessly, and I got a further “good feeling” from my communications with Tere and Therese.

When I first arrived and was shown to the beautiful little yurt that would be my home for the next six nights, I immediately knew I had made the right choice. All the amenities I really needed, all the natural beauty I could explore, all the privacy I could ask for…and the lovely, wise, and accomodating-but-totally-non-imposing Tere. The Sacred Groves site is truly filled with it’s own amazing energies, and the Sun Yurt was the perfect place to just breathe, meditate, pray, chant, grieve, write…exist, alone and disconnected from life’s usual chaos. More than a retreat, that Sun Yurt became a coccoon, from which I emerged a rather different version of myself. I cannot adequately express the depth of this initial experience, or my gratitude…but know that each subsequent one will be unique, meaningful and transformative…as I’ve already decided that (as long as I can go back to Sacred Groves), a “retreat” will become at least a yearly undertaking.” —Mary C. February 2013Compassionate Listening training
Dear Therese…….A few months ago, my friend’s grandpa died. This grandpa was like a father to him. I knew that the time for his grandpa to die was near and I called to check up on him. Because of the skills I learned in your Compassionate Listening workshop, I wasn’t afraid to call. For most people it is uncomfortable to talk about death, but because of the skills I learned from Compassionate Listening I knew I didn’t have to fix it I just had to open my heart, be present, and listen. This was such a wonderful gift for him when he felt that his other friends and family had abandoned him because they didn’t know what to say. I knew I didn’t have to say anything, just listen with compassion. We became very close friends after this experience we shared and now we are in an intimate relationship. Thank you so much you have blessed both of our lives. Love, S.

*****Women’s Mysteries–“crone initiation”
“I first came to Sacred Groves a year ago at the urging of a trusted friend, when I was 59 and getting a divorce after a 30 year relationship. Therese Charvet performed a Crone Initiation Ceremony for me. The 3 hour ceremony, preceded by my choice of 2 days of solitude in the Moonlodge, established this new, open woman who I sensed was inside me and who I am now becoming. Sacred Groves, and specifically Therese, offers all of us the rare opportunity to go deep into the processes that are profoundly missing in our age and our culture. Whether you come to drum, dance, confess, wail, listen to the birds, or learn of women’s history; in community, solitude, or in ritual, Therese and her partner Tere offer you a safe and immensely supportive place to transition, to heal, to grow, to understand. I continue to participate regularly with drum and dance events at Sacred Groves, because it’s become a place to come home to â€“ home to myself. Thank you, Therese and Tere.”
From Barbara Liggett, musician and wise woman.
*****From Lesley C…, facilitator of the Red Cedar Circle.
The following poem is dedicated to Therese Charvet and Tere Carranza and all the women who join in the various healing circles at Sacred Groves…all creating beautiful ripples in the big pond!!!

Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is a woman.
A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.
Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman who trusts and respects herself.
A woman who listens to her needs and desires.
Who meets them with tenderness and grace.

Imagine a woman who acknowledges the past’s influence on the present.
A woman who has walked through her past.
Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life.
A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf.
Who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and wisest voice.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods.
A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.
Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.
Imagine a woman in love with her own body.
A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.
Who celebrates its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body.
A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.
Who refuses to use her life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who values the women in her life.
A woman who sits in circles of women.
Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.